The storyline surpasses 234's Wuzhang -one of the oft-complained points-, and now properly ends in 280: Jin's unification of China and end of the ROTK period

The 晋 Jin Kingdom faction is newly added

Story Mode is apparently kingdom-based, and will focus on the 4 kingdoms of Wei, Wu, Shu and Jin

The Other force does not have a story mode, but players will be able to use the Other characters in Chronicle Mode

You will be playing as different characters as you choose other stages, thus seeing the overall kingdom stories from different character perspectives. The character for that stage will be fixed

For some important large battles, it will be split into two parts, so you can have two character perspectives (ex: Shu's Chang Ban, 1st Part: Zhao Yun, 2nd Part: Zhang Fei)

The story events will be seamlessly incorporated into gameplay, similar to God of War 3

To further reflect the seamlessness above, the usual pre-battle briefing menu is no longer here. Instead, the player stands inside a friendly fortress where they can buy new weapons and interact with other characters for storyline insight before beginning the battle

There will be many interactions between characters that will make the storyline even deeper

Each kingdom will have around 15 to 25 stages until their endings

Jin's storyline will begin after the Battle of Wuzhang Plains ended, when the Sima clan starts holding major authority in Wei

Wu's storyline is said to be focused on an early era rather than a late era

Story Mode might be one-player only

Chronicle Mode (Conquest Mode for English version)

This seems to be an individual, free-roam-China and create-your-own-destiny story mode

You move across a hex-grid map of China

In-between battles, you can visit cities to buy and upgrade weapons

You can also interact with other unique characters, and depending on how you interact, you can unlock more playable characters from this mode

When you join a faction you will be able to play in their specific stages

Each characters will also have special stages unique to them, such as battles that take place in ROTK, or what-if scenarios; for example, Sima Yi's special stage is Battle of Wu Zhang Plains

Other than the Weapon Blacksmith, there is an Item Peddler, a Restaurant, a Trainer and a Quizmaster in the city

For the Quizmaster, apparently you can get various things if you can answer the quizzes correctly

There will be also Gaiden / Side Story scenarios

After fulfilling certain conditions, the same person as player character may appear in the battlefield, but with an alternate colored costume

Chronicle Mode will have both Online and Offline (splitscreen) Co-op

Some stages will have limitations, such as whether you can bring partners and support animals, or not

You can re-battle the stages that you have already cleared

This shall be the basic flow of the Chronicle Mode

Characters
There will be more than 60 characters in total, new and returning

New Characters
Note: Seiyuu = Japanese VA. They are mostly consistent throughout the series unless there are major circumstances

司馬師 (子元)
Sima Shi (Ziyuan)
First son of Sima Yi. Assumed authority in Wei after his father's death. Died early in 255 due to complications of a swollen eye.
Main Weapon: Rapier
Seiyuu: Ryotaro Okiayu (aka. Orochi in Warriors Orochi, Chosokabe Motochika in Samurai Warriors, and Treize Khushrenada in Gundam Wing)

司馬昭 (子上)
Sima Zhao (Zishang)
Second son of Sima Yi. Assumed authority after his brother Shi's death. Father of Sima Yan, the first emperor of Jin who would finally unify China.
Main Weapon: Dao Blade
Seiyuu: Daisuke Kishio (aka. Taigong Wang in Warriors Orochi)

鮑三娘
Bao Sanniang
Fictional female warrior who would eventually get married to Guan Suo, fictional youngest son of Guan Yu, and would fight together with him in the battlefield.
Main Weapon: Bladed Yo-yo
Seiyuu: Ai Nonaka (aka. Fuko Ibuki in Clannad)

練師
Lian Shi
More famously known as 歩夫人 Lady Bu. Sun Quan's most beloved concubine, she was known for being courteous and never jealous.
Main Weapon: Bowgun
Seiyuu: Akemi Kanda (aka. Sanzang Fashi in Warriors Orochi and Sun Shang Xiang Gerbera in SD Gundam Sangokuden)

關索
Guan Suo
Fictional third son of Guan Yu who made much feat during the Nanman campaigns.
Main Weapon: Nunchaku
Seiyuu: Hiroaki Miura (aka. Gan Ning)

In total there are 62 playable characters
Pang De and Zuo Ci are unfortunately still yet to be returning.

Some(not all!) returning characters are gaining their old weapons from DW3~DW5 back due to the gameplay system reversal (eg. Zhen Ji's flute, Xiahou Dun's scimitar)

Gameplay ChangesWeapon & Moveset System

The moveset system is back to the good old Charge-based system (DW5 and before)

Characters now equip two weapons at once. Both of them can be changed

Weapons can be changed even in mid-stage

Weapons are acquired either by producing them through a blacksmith, or by sometimes beating an enemy officer. You can even immediately equip the weapon you've acquired through battle

There will be about 360 different varieties of weapons
(This does not mean there will be such amount of different movesets)

Recent information has discovered the true meaning of the above point: There are 36 different moveset types, and each movesets have 10 weapons, so 36*10 = 360 weapon designs

There are Unique Weapons (you guys call them 4th Weapons)

Some weapons will have gender limitations (eg. Cai Wen Ji's harp will be exclusive to females)

Some weapons will have aerial combo

TheVariable Attack system (aka. Real Time Weapon Change), players can switch between two weapons anytime. The weapons can even be switched during a combo with a weapon without cutting the combo itself. To switch weapons, press R1

Weapon Expertise

The weapons have expertise levels which indicate how comfortable a character is with the weapon type

A low expertise level may give negative effects to the character's attacks, while a high expertise level will grant bonuses such as elements

Characters will have special expertise in a certain weapon type, which will have an EX mark on it. When such weapons are equipped, they will be able to unleash unique EX attacks

Weapon Skills

Each weapon will have a learnable skill (called 印 mark in JP version)

As the player beats enemies with the weapon, the skill points needed to unlock the skill will increase

When the skill point gauge is full, the skill will be unlocked and available to equip on any weapons

Character Growth

The stat growth is using the unique-to-DW Item-based system rather than the common EXP & Level system

As with previous DW games with this system, the more combo hits dealt to the defeated enemy who drops this item, the better the quality of item will be

Musou bar and Moveset can be upgraded through a different system which utilizes 武功 Deed Points

Deeds are obtained by beating enemy officers

With enough Deed Points, you can use them to purchase the moveset upgrades and such

Support Animals

There will be support animals which will aid you in battles

There are two types of support animals: Animals that follow the player and fight together | Animals that can be ridden

Currently confirmed examples are elephant and panda

Musou attack upgrades

Musou bar is now stackable to 2 bars, allowing you to launch a Musou attack twice consecutively

Each character will have 2 different kinds of Musou attacks

Musou bar can no longer be charged by holding down the O button

All characters' first Musou attacks are normally executed with O button on ground

For the secondary Musou attack, some characters will have either of the following:
Alternate Ground Musou, by pressing R1+O on ground; or Jump/Aerial Musou, by pressing O while mid-air

When using Musou attack, the character will be using their default weapon regardless of what weapons are equipped

Others

Character portraits in battle messages have emotion changes just like other recent Warriors games (except SW3)

Morale bar is gone, but the morale system itself still exists and will be reflected from officer messages and such

Swimming, a feature from DW6, will make its return here

Other Known Information

The game supports stereoscopic 3D mode, but it is optional and can be turned off

Both consoles (PS3 & 360) will support the stereoscopic 3D

There is no Edit Mode (aka. CAW)

There is no Opening Edit feature

There is no Free Mode.

The masked dancer in the Opening Movie is a generic

In Chronicle Mode, you can change the BGM mid-stage to another in-game BGM you've already heard

There will be no "guest" original characters from any non-DW game, so no Ayane or Ryu Hayabusa, or Sun Wukong, Xiang Yu or Da Ji, etc.
(To add to this point, that includes Fu Xi and Nu Wa since they are now considered as guest characters from WO)

Some characters will have different facial features depending on the storyline progress, like two-eyed Xiahou Dun or non-masked Sima Shi

The above change is mostly related to accessories, so don't expect too much on facial hair (e.g. no Liu Bei growing mustache)

DLC (Downloadable Content) is confirmed to be added. Details will be revealed at a later time

The Japanese version will have a sung ending song: Time by KinKi Kids (It is unknown though whether the same song will be featured in English versions or not)

Downloadable Content Information
Dates will be mainly based on Japanese release here
Mainly the DLC packs will consist of costumes, weapons, and stages
Some will be free, some others will be priced depending on the details of the DLC